The Curious Case of Bursting Lamprophyres in the Mine
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Our next lecture on Thursday 18th February at 1800hrs,and is being presented jointly with Mineralogical Society of GB&I, Applied Mineralogy Group, and in these circumstances we are requesting all NEIMME and MinSoc. Members who wish to attend this Zoom Meeting to apply on the register address (as shown below) because numbers are limited to some extent.
The details of the Zoom address will be sent to you by return e-mail after registering.
protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/md_JC7X6MiVZEnt8QPbj?domain=zoom.us" target="_blank">https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcsduqoqzwtHdeEhej29QYATEeIkhtOFWWq
The Lecture is by Hannah Hughes of Cambourne School of Mines, and is titled:
Hannah presents a fascinating talk relating to 'rocks that go bang' and gasses in rocks
The curious case of bursting lamprophyres in the mine
Rocks that go bang: Applied Mineralogy for Engineering solutions to underground mine gas outbursts
Gases in rocks may be present as vapour bubbles in fluid inclusions, gas molecules adsorbed onto mineral surfaces, or accumulated within fractures, voids and pore spaces. Gases may also be produced by a number of mechanisms – biogenically (i.e., microbial processes) or abiogenically (e.g., by mineral alteration and reaction). Many mines in South Africa are prone to gas outbursts and the number of flammable gas reports and accidents are steadily rising. For example, methane is recognized as a hazard in gold and platinum mines as well as coal mines. Gases and volatiles present in some lithologies are sensitive to physical changes of the host rock, such as excavation that causes depressurisation of the surrounding rock mass. This can cause a release of gas and is an important consequence of any mining or underground construction activity. In cases of outburst, the release of gas may be very sudden and the sources and pathways of gases must be understood in order to facilitate and implement appropriate health and safety criteria and mine operation regulations.
In this talk, we will look at a case study of a underground platinum mine in South Africa suffering numerous gas outbursts and see how applied mineralogy, petrology, fluid inclusion studies and novel in situ gas analyses together with time-lapse mapping can be used to identify the causes and mechanisms of gas outbursts. Equipped with this knowledge, we hope to be able to forecast the risk of outbursts in the future and thereby help to safeguard miners from injury as well as saving the mine the financial burden caused by these events.
